The De Castro Sisters were a vocal trio whose mother was a Ziegfeld Follies showgirl from Chicago who married a wealthy Cuban aristocrat in the Dominican Republic and had an apartment in Manhattan, although the girls were largely brought up in Havana.

Originally consisting of, Cherie and Babette DeCastro, The collective started singing in their teens, working on radio in Cuba styled as a Cuban version of The Andrews Sisters. When Babette retired in 1958, a cousin, Olgita DeCastro Marino replaced her and when Peggy later left the group to go solo, Babette re-joined Cherie and Olgita. They moved with their mother to Miami in 1942, where they were seen by an agent who booked them into New York’s Copacabana, and as proteges of Carmen Miranda, they became a popular cabaret act, making early records in 1952 with Tito Puente, although their recording career did not really get under way until they signed to the Abbott label in 1954.

This 59-track 2CD set includes  selected A- and B-sides from their releases on the Tico, Abbott, RCA, ABC-Paramount and Capitol labels from this era, plus the titles from their Capitol albums The De Castros Sing and Rockin’ Beat. It features all their career chart entries, including the US No.2 Teach Me Tonight. As their careers progressed their act became more flamboyant and, in  1946, they provided several of the bird and animal voices for Walt Disney’s animated Song Of The South.

They were a talented and sophisticated close-harmony vocal group, with their style and repertoire naturally very much influenced by their Latin roots, and this selection of their recordings during what was the primary era of their career offers an entertaining showcase for their highly distinctive talent.

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